Lacing frame and method



J1me 1957 G. D. GIERLING ETAL Filed July 28. 1954 INVENTORS 650265 D, GIEEL/NG 8, SAEAH G/EEL/NG THE/R A 7' 70 ENE) J1me 1957 G. D. GIERLING ETAL LACING FRAME AND METHOD INVENTORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 28. 1954 G m u z a 6 DH Mr om. n

705/ A T TORNEY United States Patent O LACIN G FRAME AND METHOD George D. Gierling and saorfllh Gierling, Cleveland Heights,

Application July 28, 1954, Serial No. 446,231

3 Claims. (Cl. 28-72) This invention relates in general to a form of lacing for making yarn goods having open ornamental texture. The invention is particularly concerned with a method of lacing yarn and with lacing devices or frames to facilitate carrying out the method with ease and economy of labor. The invention is particularly useful in the making of ornamental yarn goods or decorative pieces such as shawls, scarves, stoles, and doilies.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved method for making yarn into goods of openwork design or ornamental texture.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of lacing yarn which is rapid and which requires a minimum of skill and effort on' the part of the operator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lacing device or frame to facilitate carrying out the method in making yarn goods.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved frames having adjustable and removable parts permitting the selection of various sizes and patterns in making lace goods.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide lacing frames having collapsible parts making for convenience in storage when not in use.

In accordance with the invention, the lacing process comprises winding yarn continuously in loops around i pairs of adjacent rods. The loops around pairs of rods which have one rod in common are passed through each other around the common rod and the interengaged loops are knotted together around the common rod. This process is extended to encompass as many rods as desired, the loops between the rods foming distinct panels in the yarn goods. Thereafter the work is disengaged from the rods and laterally adjacent loops are tied together at the knotted portions by suitable means, for instance by crocheting, to provide a permanent anchorage transversely to the direction of the loops. The loops within a panel may then be clinched together in bunches to provide an openwork effect or treated in other suitable ways for creating distinctive patterns.

The practice of the lacing method of the invention is facilitated by the use of lacing frames comprising a plurality of parallel spaced lacing rods. In one illustrated embodiment, these rods are supported in end frame members, being frictionally engaged in suitable apertures therein and removable therefrom. In other illustrated embodiments, the lacing rods are supported from arms which are hinged upon a frame or standard and which may be pivoted up to a convenient height and position for use. For. storage purposes, the arms are pivoted or folded down to reduce the size of the frame.

For further objects and advantages and for a better understanding of the various features of the invention, attention-is now directed to thefollowing description and accompanying drawings. The features of the invention believed to be novel will be more particularly pointed. out in the appendedv claims. I

lacing frame embodying the invention and showing yarn goods with various parts at ditferent stages of development to illustrate the lacing method of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a pictorial view'of an improved table model lacing frame embodying the invention.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the lacing frame of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an end view of a modified lacing frame similar to that of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a pictorial view of a floor model lacing frame embodying the invention.

Fig. 6 is a detail of the hinge construction of the floor model lacing frame of Fig. 5.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown an economical form of lacing frame comprising end pieces 1, 2 made of a suitable rigid material, for instance plywood. The end pieces are held in upright spaced relationship, by transverse members 3, 4 to which they are fastened by means of screws 5. Spaced along the marginal edges of the end pieces are suitable transverse holes for receiving the ends of lacing rods 611. The rods may be of wood or metal or of a rigid plastic and are frictionally received in the holes in the end pieces. To remove the rod, it is slid longitudinally until one end clears the end piece in which it was engaged and thereafter the rod is disengaged by sliding it out in the opposite direction.

For home use in making such articles as scarves, stoles, shawls, and doilies a lacing frame of the following dimensions has been found to be quite suitable. height of the end pieces 1, 2 is approximately 12 inches and the length of the rods 611 is approximately 18 inches, the rods being'made of wood and having a .diameter of approximately inch. It will be appreciated that in general these dimensions are not critical and may be varied widely. However the diameter of the rods must be correlated to the size of the knotted portions of the loops which are formed around them in lacing yarn. These loops must not be excessively large as otherwise the appearance of the finished article will be impaired. In general the diameter of the rods ought not to exceed inch for the usual gauges of yarns in domestic use. The transverse holes along the marginal edges of the end pieces are correlated to the rod diameter to provide frictional engagement of the rods so that they will fit snugly and securely in use but may be disengaged by sliding out when desired.

In the use of the lacing frame of Fig. l to make lace goods, one or two threads of yarn 12, 13 are first extended or stretched longitudinally along and parallel to each of the rods 611. These threads may be secured in place by any suitable means, as by pins (not shown in the drawing) stuck into the end pieces 1, 2. Thereafter yarn is wound continuously in fiat loops around a pair of rods, forinstance 8, 9. This may be done by passing an open or H-shaped bobbin of yarn upwardly in front and downwardly behind the two rods 8, 9, the

loops being gradually spaced from left to right as the After a number of loops suitable for the width of articledesired has been wound around the pair of rods, '8, 9,

yam is then wound arotmd another pair of rods which includes one rod shared inv common with the preceding Patented June 11, 1957 Thepair. For instance,,the yarn may be Wound around rods 7, 8; rod 8 being shared with the preceding pair 8, 9. As the yarn is wound around rods 7, 8 the loops are engaged with the corresponding loops on rods 8,9 by passing the bobbin through the corresponding loops in. going around rod 8. For a firm or tight weave, the interengaged loops may be knotted together at 16 aboutrod 8. However the feature of knotting is not essential to the invention and simply interengaging the loops is sufficientwhere a looser weave is satisfactory. The ,interengaging and knotting may be accomplished by passing the bobbin of yarn up over rods 7, 8 threading it through a loop on rods 8, 9, knottiug about rod 8 to fasten the corresponding loops together on both pairs of rods and then passing behind rod 7 and repeating again. This process is continued until for each loop on rods 8, 9 there isa corresponding loop on rods 7, 3 knotted to it about rod 8. The process may be extended to other rods to make as many panels as desired. Thereafter the workis removed from the frame and the rods disengaged from the knotted loop portions, the threads 12, 13 maintaining the loops in alignment. Laterally adjacent loops are then tied together at the interengaged or knotted portions to provide a permanent anchorage between loops transversely to the direction of the loops. This may conveniently be done by crocheting together the interengaged portions which formed small auxiliary loops after'removal of the rods, the threads 12, 13 being leftin place and accordingly included within the crocheted portions.

In order to provide an openwork' effect, the loops may be clinched together in offset bunches as indicated at 17. This may be accomplished by knotting about the auxiliary threads 14, 15 or by other suitable means to create-artistic effects.

Referring to Fig. 2, there is shown an improved form of table model lacing frame embodying the invention. Here the lacing rods, instead of being supported directly in the end piecesor plates l, 2, aresupportedinarms- 21, 22 and 23, 24 which are hinged on the end pieces through the rods 25, 26. The arms are providedawith matching transverse apertures27 in which the ends of the rods are engaged. The apertures are spaced'relatively close to-' gether, and in using the frame, the operator will select-the apertures to obtain the desired spacing between rods for achieving the desired width of panel in the laced goods.

The arms 21-24 may be pivoted into a downswung position wherein they are juxtaposed against the edges of the end pieces 1, 2. This makes the frame more compact for storage purposes. When the frame is beingused, the arms are swung up to the horizontal or to an intermediate inclined position as may best suit the user. In the embodiment of Fig. 2, the arms supporting the lacing. rods may be locked at any inclination by means of the adjustable slotted braces 28 extending between the arms and the end pieces. nuts 29 which are loosened to permit adjustment. When the arms are in their downswung position, they repose on the outside of the end pieces and the rods arethen accommodated in notches 31 in the margins of the endpieces, thereby presenting a neat flush surface.

Fig. 3 shows the embodiment of Fig. 2 in side elevation,

the arms 21, 22 being therein shown swung up to the horizontal.

Fig. 4 shows in side elevation a fragment of modified lacing frame similar to that of Fig. 2 but wherein, a snap type diagonal brace 32 is used to lock the arms 21-24 in their upswung position. The brace is made in two parts whichare pivotally joined at 33 with a locking boss and indentation at 34 for locking the parts into line. Other equivalent designs of snap type braces may be, used instead of that illustrated. It will be appreciated that this type of brace hasthe advantage of providing a positive lockingaction but the choice of inclination of the arms supportingthe lacing rods is necessarily limited.

Refer-ring to Fig. 5, there is shown a floor model lacing The braces are fastened by means of wing.

frame embodying the invention. The end pieces are here constituted by inverted generally u-shaped sections of tubing or rod 37, 38. In anactual construction, regular half inch aluminum tubing has been found entirely suitable in ofiering the required rigidity without excessive weight. The sections are braced by means of transverse rods 40, 41 joining the front and rear legs in each section, and diagonal braces 42, 43 joining the front legs to the rear legs of the opposite section. The rods 6-11 are supported in arms 4447 which may be consist of half inch aluminum rods. The arms are hinged by central rod 48 through a tongue and slot joint, best seen in Fig. 6, onto brackets 49 fastened to the upper horizontal portion of sections 37, 38. The arms may be folded or swung down to make the frame more compactfor storage. When in use, the arms supporting the lacing rods are locked in upswung positions by slotted adjustable braces 50 which are adapted to lock the arms at any inclination up to the horizontal.

In the case of arms 44-47 made of metal, it is not feasible to rely upon friction to hold the lacing rods in place and prevent them from sliding and falling out when the frame is in use. Accordingly suitable means are provided to hold the rods in position on the arms. Such means may take the form of retaining knobs 51 screwed or otherwise fastened on the ends of the rods, as illustrated in Fig. 5. An alternative arrangement consists in providing small transverse holes on the ends of the rods for receiving cotter pins.

When the yarn is wound or looped around the lacing rods, the tension causes adjacent rods to tend to bow together. To correct this condition, there is provided a sliding spacer consisting of notched bars 52, 53. These bars are placed on top of the lacing rods and the notches 54 serve to maintain the spacing of the lacing rods as the yarn or thread is wound around them.

While a particular version of the method of the invention has been describedin detail, it will be appreciated that it admits of variations which will readily become apparent to those skilled in the art. This is especially so in regards to the specific manner of anchoring the knotted or interengaged portions of the adjacent loops together, and in regards to the manner of gathering or clinching groups of adjacent loops into bunches in order to create artistic effects. Furthermore, the specific lacing frame constructions which have been described in detail are to be considered illustrative of the invention and not as limitations thereon. The invention proper is to be defined by the appended claims which are intended to cover any modifications falling within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

What is claimed is:

1. The method of lacing yarn into goods which com prises the steps of stretching pairs of yarn threads along laterally spaced rods extending side by side, looping yarn around one pair of said rods, looping yarn around another pair of said rods sharing one rod in common with said one pair and interengaging and knotting together corre sponding loops around said common rod with said pair of threads enclosed within the knotted portions, the loops being relatively long and fiat and laterally closely spaced together, removing the yarn from said rods, and tying laterally adjacent loops at the knotted portions by crocheting together said knotted portions with said pair of threads enclosed within the knotted portions in order to provide a permanent anchorage transversely to the direction of the loops.

2. The method of lacing yarn into goods which comprises the steps of stretching pairs of yarn threads along laterally spaced rods extending side by side, looping yarn around one pair of said rods, looping yarn around another pair of said rods sharing one rod in common with said one pair and interengaging and knotting together corresponding loops around said common rod with said pair of threads enclosed within the knotted portions, the loops being relatively long and flat and laterally closely spaced together, repeating the step of looping around successive pairs of rods each sharing a rod in common with a preceding pair and interengaging and knotting the corresponding loops each time at the common rod to produce a plurality of panels formed by the loops between the pairs of rods, removing the partially completed yarn goods from said rods, and tying laterally adjacent loops .at the knotted portions by crocheting together said knotted portions with said pair of threads enclosed within the knotted portions in order to provide a permanent anchorage transversely to the direction of the loops.

3. The method of lacing yarn into goods which comprises the steps of stretching pairs of yarn threads along laterally spaced rods extending side by side, stretching additional yarn threads intermediately between said rods, looping yarn around one pair of said rods, looping yarn around another pair of said rods sharing one rod in common with said one pair and interengaging and knotting together corresponding loops around said common rod with said pair of threads enclosed within the knotted portions, the loops being relatively long and flat and laterally closely spaced together, removing the yarn from said rods, tying laterally adjacent loops at the knotted portions by crocheting together said pair of threads enclosed within the knotted portions in order to provide a permanent anchorage transversely to the direction of the loops, and clinching together groups of laterally adjacent loops into offset bunches by said intermediate threads.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 209,520 Sawyer Oct. 29, 1878 2,065,498 Bacheller Dec. 29, 1936 2,096,592 Peterson Get. 19, 1937 2,218,994 Ryan Oct. 22, 1940 2,251,533 Thurston et al. Aug. 5, 1941 2,314,618 Green Mar. 23, 1943 2,421,189 Dillon May 27, 1947 

